NFL Draft Scouting Notebook Week 4: Jabrill Peppers’ Lonely Will Linebacker Band

Jabrill Peppers represents the hybrid linebacker that the NFL is desperately trying to find, but are there other prospects who can bring similar qualities?

The state of the linebacker position is at an all-time low. Gone are the days of Dick Butkus, Bobby Bell, Ray Lewis, Ray Nitchske, Mike Singletary, Jack Ham, Jack Lambert, and Derrick Brooks. It used to be a status symbol to be a mike linebacker. And in spite of Luke Kuechly, can you even imagine your team’s linebackers without a sense of dread?

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No, the state of the linebacker position is hanging on by a thread.

This is a consequence of the proliferation of spread offenses in college football. As the offenses in the NFL and college football not only put linebackers who have no business in coverage in one-on-one matchups, the increasing of up-tempo offenses along with the spread led to linebackers shrinking in size. That’s not due to a concerted effort to lose weight, though some do, but the environment shapes what they become. If you’re a linebacker and play against up-tempo offenses every week.  You are going to have trouble keeping on weight.

As a result, over-conditioning leads to smaller players and that creates a whole new problem. Because yes, being too slow in space is a problem. Everyone who remembers Brandon Spikes in space knows this. But we have traded being too slow to cover in space with being too weak to tackle in space. Hence, we can only imagine what is going to happen at the NFL level.

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Which brings us to this week’s primary draft subject, Jabrill Peppers, and the other linebackers you can get in this draft class who are similar to Peppers in coverage.

Now I want to first say that Jabrill Peppers is not Deone Bucannon for a variety of reasons. Firstly, Bucannon at Washington State had more experience than Peppers in a variety of ways. Bucannon played single high, covered the slot and made the defensive play calls, similar to what Peppers does in Michigan’s defense. But the main distinction is Bucannon was better at pass coverage.

Peppers is astounding versus the run and tackling in space. However, he still isn’t a finished product in pass coverage where his footwork gets him in trouble. But asking him to play linebacker in the way Deone plays that position on the Arizona Cardinals is perfect for him. Therefore, it takes away what he doesn’t do well and allows defensive coordinators to focus on what he does extremely well.

However, we’re focusing on more than just Peppers coming out of Week 4. Let’s dive in to some other subjects of the Week 4 NFL Draft Scouting Notebook.

Johnathan Ford, SS – Auburn

Ford plays the exact same position as Jabrill Peppers. He can even lay the wood on folks in similar fashion. But he’s actually a bit more refined in slot coverage. He’s not as athletic as Peppers, but Ford brings everything else that Peppers does.

I’m surprised more people haven’t watched him or taken notice. He is probably Auburn’s least talked about player, but that certainly shouldn’t be the case

Darius Harris, LB – Middle Tennessee State

Harris is one of the best coverage linebackers I’ve seen this year. He isn’t as violent as Peppers, Ford, and Gerry. Yet, he gets the job done as a tackler and in the slot. Also, Harris has a surprising amount of functional strength inside.

Mike Tyson, LB – Cincinnati

Tyson has the frame of a cornerback with the same position and similar duties of Peppers and Ford. As a result he can play coverage well, but he does need to improve his ball tracking.

That mixed with his tackling ability makes him a nice asset to consider scooping up in the later rounds this year. While some NFL scouts will balk at his size, he can do things that the other linebackers they may covet can’t do. Obviously, that brings value in the pass happy NFL.

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Before I close this out, here are my top 10 NFL draft matchups in Week 4:

1. Houston’s Greg Ward Jr. vs. Connecticut’s Obi Melifonwu
2. Illinois’ Malik Turner vs. Nebraska’s Nate Gerry
3. Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers vs. Wisconsin’s Corey Clement
4. Tennessee’s Derek Barnett vs. Georgia’s Greg Pyke
5. Utah’s Reginald Porter vs. California’s Chad Hansen
6. Indiana’s Dan Feeney vs. Michigan State’s Malik McDowell
7. Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer vs. Syracuse’s Antwan Cordy
8. Oregon State’s Jordan Villamin vs. Colorado’s Chidobe Awuzie
9. UTEP’s Aaron Jones vs. Louisiana Tech’s Xavier Woods
10. Northwestern’s Justin Jackson vs. Iowa’s Josey Jowell

In conclusion, let me know if you have any prospect questions below. Finally, have a great game week.